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India pharma plant fire injures seven

26 February 2018

A major fire at a pharmaceuticals manufacturing plant seriously injured seven staff members on February 23 in Jeedimetla, a suburb of Hyderabad in the Indian state of Telangana. Fire and rescue personnel led 20 other staff to safety and extinguished the flames in 90 minutes at the Seutic Pharmaceuticals plant.

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A fire service spokesperson said that a chemical leak or reaction was the most likely cause of fire.

In what the Deccan Chronicle called a “bizarre and unexpected turn of events”, there was a second blast later when water used to douse the flames reacted with chemicals stored onsite.

This blast caused a fire that spread to other parts of the plant, and local residents were evacuated from their homes because of the threat of chemical fumes.

A senior local official contacted by the New Indian Express said that a special team had identified dangerous chemicals being stored improperly on the company’s premises.